1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a management system and a management method, and in particular, relates to a management system and a management method that enable remotely updating a setting value to a network device including an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A maintenance person who performs a maintenance operation sometimes resets a parameter for a network device including an image forming apparatus so as to be smoothly utilized considering the utilization status thereof when he/she visits a customer. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-276446 discloses a technique for automatically adjusting the parameter according to the utilization status of the network device, without depending on the parameter setting set by the maintenance person. For example, when a component whose consumption degree exceeds a certain value is used, in a job that is executed by a user, there is also a technique in which the execution of a substitutive job not using the component is selected and presented to the user. In contrast, in recent years, a person in charge of a selling company can remotely perform a setting change in the network device in the market by using a remote monitoring system.
While Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-276446 discloses that a behavior of the network device can be automatically changed considering the utilization status, it does not suggest a method for remotely changing the setting value. For example, there is a case in which the person in charge of the selling company wants to change the condition of the utilization status and the setting value so as to be automatically changed at once, considering the utilization status in the market, the distribution condition of firmware, and the like. Additionally, the transmitted setting value is not applied when the network device is not connected to a network or a power source is turned off. Subsequently, the setting value may be changed at an unintended timing of the person in charge of the selling company after a passage of time. Moreover, trouble may occur if the setting value that has been set in the network device by the maintenance person at the timing of his/her visit is automatically changed by the remote monitoring system.